Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Disable the Counting House Magic Traps (BG3)

The Counting House in Baldur’s Gate 3 is full of vaults that you can loot, but the vaults are set up with all kinds of traps to keep you out. Lucky for you, we’re here to help: here’s how to disable the Counting House traps in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to Get to the Counting House

The Counting House is centrally located in the south of the Lower City in BG3. You can easily get to the front doors by using the Heapside Strand waypoint and traveling west a little ways. You’ll know The Counting House when you see it as it’s a large ornate building separated from the rest of the city by a short bridge. If you’re following Jaheira’s questline, walk through the front doors and talk to the front desk clerk to get a temporary pass that will let you into the vaults below.

Alternatively, you can sneak in through the back by heading to Flymm Cargo and jumping onto the docked ship. This will land you on The Counting House docks, and you can walk over to the backdoor and directly into the basement vaults. But we only recommend this option if you’re having trouble getting access to the vaults any other way. Jumping onto the docks will alert The Counting House guards and turn them hostile. So either stock up on invisibility potions or be prepared for a fight.

How to Disable the Magic Traps in the Counting House (BG3)

To disable the purple magic traps in the Counting House, you need to press both buttons in the vault room. There is one button on the left wall, and another on the right wall, both of which can be found near the center of the room. But you can’t simply run over to the buttons and press them as you would with other traps.

As soon as you walk into the room, the magic trap will activate and teleport you back to the entrance of the vault in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Using Magic Missiles

We found that the best way to press the buttons is to have a character use Magic Missiles. These can follow targets around corners, and you can easily send two projectiles at the same time that hit the buttons without needing a perfect line of sight.

After we used Magic Missiles with Gale, we were able to walk into the Counting House vault room with no issues. When you walk into the room, the purple magic traps will still appear on the ground, but they will no longer teleport you after both buttons are pressed. If you already ran into the traps before, the buttons won’t be much help, so we would reload the save in BG3.

Using the Misty Step Teleport Spell

Another workaround is to use the Misty Step teleport spell. Flying and jumping over the magic traps also won’t work, so you need to literally shift your whole body with a teleport past the traps. However, this takes a ton of resources, and there are six vaults to loot, so hitting the buttons with a ranged attack is the best bet before looting the Counting House.

Once you’re done looting, check out our guide on how to solve the Counting House Vault Code in Baldur’s Gate 3.